Who's in Equestria?
by BlazingBlues
Summary: On a sidestop while visiting an Ood about a certain prophecy, our beloved Doctor runs into a little mishap.
1. Not Again!

A tall, somewhat lanky man stood in the center of a very strange looking room. It had countless stairwells and hallways leading out of it, and in the very center stood a large tall column. The column was transparent, and seemed to be some sort of pump, the tubes inside of it slowly shifting up and down, an almost melodic rhythm. But the rhythm was constantly interrupted by the panels that surrounded it. Around it were many instruments, even including such strange things as a typewriter and what oddly resembled a bicycle horn. Spread along the panels were countless buttons, levers, pulleys and knobs, each one seeming to fit some other time. All in all, the controls to the ship seemed more a random hodgepodge collection than a sophisticated system. Just several feet away, the tall man stood alone, glaring at the screen hanging above. His attire appeared interesting for any generation, wearing a long brown overcoat over a brown and blue pinstriped tuxedo. Under that, he wore a sharp dress shirt and a tie. But the oddest feature of his dress were his shoes. Unlike the rest of his attire, he wore a pair of very well-used-looking white and tan trainers. He exhaled and put his hand to his head, running it through his rather spiky hair. His blue eyes scanned the screen as he thought.

"Where to go, where to go" he said aloud. He'd been off to visit an Ood colony, but he was in no hurry. The last time they had spoken, he was told that his 'song would end' shortly after the conversation, and he was certainly in no hurry to die. He'd just come back from the beautiful tropical planet of Barcelona II. Admittedly, he'd played a very small role in bringing some strange white sort of cybermen to the first planet... They had brought with them some large gray moon, and destroyed the planet with a single beam. He fingered his lei absentmindedly. Perhaps he should visit one of the frozen moons of Zroth, that was always a favorite of his. Come to think of it, the last time he'd been there, Rose was still his assistant!

"Zroth it is" He said confidently, fiddling with the controls. The process always seemed much more difficult without an assistant. He stretched on his toes to reach across the panels and align each knob. He pulled the final level and felt the familiar lurch as his ship started to shift in space.

"Allons-y" he said to himself. He should arrive in mere seconds. But just as he said it, the Tardis gave a horrible lurch. It shook with a force he'd felt only once or twice before.

"I can't be," He whispered. "No, no no no no no, this is very bad, very very bad." He was in a rift in space and time, taking him to another dimension. Last time he'd hit one, he'd been lucky, only a small few things had changed. But he hadn't the slightest clue of what could go wrong. The planets could be toxic, he could be killed the moment he left the Tardis. He might not even be the same body structure when he came out for goodness's sake!

"Why again?" He asked. Even as a feeling very similar to fear held him gripped, he had a glimmer of hope in his heart. As statistically impossible as it was, this rift could be taking him straight to Pete's World, and straight back to Rose. But what was he to listen to statistics? They were just numbers, they had no force behind them. He smiled somewhat just imagining it. He thought of what wonderful things he could do in Pete's World, so many discoveries to make. He might even welcome back Rose as an assistant! The Tardis gave another jolt, stranger than the first. Despite all his efforts, the doctor was flung from his perch and his head collided with one of the many walls with a dull thud. Still grinning, the tenth doctor sank into the warm, welcoming darkness. 

The Doctor did not wake for many hours. He slept motionless in a deep sleep, undisturbed by dreams. There was only a world of blackness, no color, no light, nothing. He was comfortable in this blackness, all by himself. But he eventually realized he had to return. And so he opened his eyes. He groaned as sharp light pierced him. Judging by the windows on the Tardis, it was a sunny day outside, wherever outside was. 'Now where am I?' he thought to himself. The back of his head throbbed, a large bump forming from the first impact. He gently raised an arm and rubbed it, and almost cried out in shock. Both the back of his head and his arm were fuzzy, and even soft. He knew for a fact that he wasn't wearing that cheap jacket that had begun to come undone, he was fuzzy. His hand was fuzzy. He lowered the arm to his face and jumped slightly.

"A- A hoof?" This was very strange, even for him. He looked down and inspected the rest of his body.

"Four legs, I've been worse off, but without hands it'll be inconvenient. Definitely equine, but nothing earthly. Short legs, I'm probably not a horse, maybe a pony or donkey. Wouldn't that be funny, the Doctor's a donkey! Four hooves, sturdy legs, yet still lithe enough to run swiftly, I can deal with that. Brownish fur, so I'm probably not some sort of donkey. Wait-" He broke off and clumsily hopped to all fours, spinning around like dog. And sure enough, there it was. "I've got a tail."

The doctor galloped through the Tardis, his new hooves making an incredibly loud clank with each step on the industrial-style metal floor of the ship. The Tardis itself seemed fine, he was more concerned with finding a mirror. He made his way to his study, his unsteady trot becoming more and more smooth, until he ran like he'd been on all fours all his life. Entering the study, he made his way to the tall mirrored cabinet and examined his face.

"Hair's still good, I like that. Two eyes, both looking normal- well, normal enough. They're very large, aren't they? A long muzzle, nostrils and a mouth, good. Have I got cat ears? What are these?" He toyed with them for several moments, flapping his ears, letting them stand on end and then flop over his eyes. "Well that's fun, I suppose. I say, I look like a _cartoon_!" He turned around to look at his short tail once more. To his surprise, he found an hourglass on either flank, near his rump.

"A tattoo? I've always wondered what they were like, never saw myself having one. Hourglass, for Time Lord, that's nice, fitting. I like it, maybe I'll get a tattoo later. I better find out what the rest of this world looks like." He trotted back to the entrance of the Tardis, positively flaunting his new form. As he was about to leave the Tardis, he spotted something hanging from a crook in the wall. Right where he normally laid his cloak or overcoat- he'd done so upon entering the Tardis earlier- were some weird sort of pack. They were much like two backpacks, connected in the middle by a thick band of material. He cantered up to it and found something shiny sticking out: his sonic screwdriver.

"Oh, that's nice. That's much better. Even though I don't have hands, at least I have the screwdriver. I suppose I can operate it with my teeth, at least until I fabricate a better process." Picking the bags up with his teeth, he found them empty spare the screwdriver and a fob watch. With a bit of practice, he managed to swing the pack over his back and get it to a comfortable position. Standing on hind legs, he turned around and gave the doors of the police box a small shove, and he opened his eyes to one of the strangest worlds he'd ever seen.


	2. Well this is Unexpected

The Doctor blinked again as the harsh light hit his face. Stepping out of the Tardis, the new Pony Doctor got his first glimpse of this new land.

"What is this? This is- this is beautiful, everything's perfect here!" He exclaimed. White puffy clouds spread across the sky. It seemed to be a warm summer day. The grass was green, the trees were full, and flowers even more so. There were birds chirping in the sky as the city's inhabitants milled about. These other ponies, however, gave the Doctor more of a shock than he would normally admit. They weren't just ponies with strange tattoos, these ponies were all colors! They were red and green and blue and yellow, and their manes had even more color! The manes mimicked very earthly hairstyles rather than an equine's, and the tails seemed to follow suit. Even more surprising, they weren't all normal ponies, some had a horn atop their head, and some were pegasi!

"Well, that was unexpected." The Doctor said to himself. "Best make sure the Tardis is hidden away well." The Tardis was snugged in between to trees, it seemed to be the outskirts of this town. Lots of foliage, it would be in shadow, hidden perfectly. Pleased with the Tardis's location, the Doctor turned around and headed down what appeared to be a well traversed road into the nearest town. As determined as he was, he was continually stopping to observe the stranger features of this place. The flowers seemed to always be in perfect bloom, not a single one falling short of brilliance in color and perfect stature. The gardens he passed were teeming with mouthwatering carrots and other equine delicacies. He had to scowl, however, as he passed under a pear tree. 'I hate pears.' he mumbled to himself.

Reaching what he assumed to be the central hub of town, he paused to observe the buildings. None of them seemed to be quite level, but were perfectly sound. From his vantage point, he could see several buildings. A pastry shop, judging by the cake on the sign hung above the door. He made a silent note to himself to stop there later. He could see a rather tall building, which oddly resembled an old-fashioned dress. It was somewhat separated from the rest of the shops, isolated in a patch of green grass, it had a sort of elegance to it. He could also see a bulding built right into a massive oak tree, with a book hanging over the doorway. A library! Everything he'd need to know about this odd place would be in there. A new grin on his face, he began making his way over to the tree.

He did not travel more than a few feet, however, when a gray blur knocked him off his feet at a million miles an hour, knocking the breath out of him as well as scattering dozens of flat white fluttering envelopes. Checking that all his appendages were still attached, the doctor hoisted himself on all fours again and turned to see the assailant. It was a gray mare, a pegasus with a ruffled blonde mane and tail. He could see the bubbles on her rump, and considered this a rather odd tattoo. In a second, the pegasus had jumped to her feet and began collecting the letters, mumbling to herself.

"My apologies," the Doctor said, "I didn't see you there. You're rather strong, aren't you? To take me off my feet, hm?" The gray mare. With her back to him, shook her head.

"Muffins! My fault." She said, with a rather strange strain on her voice. She turned around as she spoke, and the Doctor's jaw dropped ever so slightly. Catching himself, he snapped his jaw shut and cursed himself silently. The pegasus had the most beautiful golden-amber eyes, but each pointed a different direction.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. Very sorry." The Doctor blabbed. The pegasus merely laughed.

"Muffins! You talk funny." She said, with a snicker. The Doctor pondered this for a moment, then realized she must have been referring to his accent.

"Muffins?" He asked. The pegasus opened her mouth to reply, but before she could form words, a blue blur landed next to her.

"Derpy!" The new one had a voice of authority, somewhat unfitting with her willy-nilly rainboy mane and tail. "Those letters are for Canterlot, aka THAT WAY!" She said pointing a hoof in roughly the exact opposite direction the mailmare had been flying.

"Well that's a tad harsh," said the Doctor. The blue mare fixed him with a gaze, before asking, "and you are?"

"I'm the Doctor." He said. Hadn't taken long for that phrase to come out, must be something constant in any dimension of space and time. The mare didn't seemed convinced.

"Doctor... who?" She asked. _And there's the other one, this one's two for two._

"Doctor who...ves. Call me Doctor Whooves." He said. _That's rather creative, I like that, _he decided silently. The blue one shrugged.

"Okay, Doctor Whooves, can you fix her?" She said brusquely. Aside from the initial shock, the idea _did_ give the Doctor an idea. "None of the other doctors ever can."

"Well, I'm not like other doctors. I'm THE Doctor." He said. "And I'll see what I can do." Perhaps the Tardis would make it a tad easier to understand the gray filly, at least enough to ask her her name. "Follow me, er..."

"Derpy- I mean Ditzy. Call her Ditzy." Said the blue one again. Ditzy, who up until this point had been struggling to close the latch on her bag, turned her head to face the others.

"All right. Ditzy, if you'll come with me, let's see what the Doctor can do for you." He said. Ditzy trotted along behind him with no further hesitation. Within minutes, the two had made their way back to the Tardis and the Doctor opened the door with one hoof. He prepared himself for the next obvious statement, 'It's bigger on the inside'. As he led the gray one in, however, she remained silent.

"You're not surprised?" Asked a very confused Doctor. The mailmare opened her mouth to speak several times, each time stopping herself with a confused expression. Finally, she spoke, and her voice was clear as day.

"Why should I be surprised?" She asked. The Doctor simply allowed his mouth to gape. It had fixed her voice!

"You prejudiced old box, you," He said. "I love you." He turned towards Ditzy. "You're not surprised at all? Nothing about it being bigger on the inside and such?"

Ditzy shook her head. "Nope. Twilight does all kinds of magical things like that."

The Doctor snorted. "Magic, don't be preposterous, this is science! Time Lord science!"


	3. The Doctor and Who?

The gray pegasus shook her head. She'd known about magic, and this Doctor had fixed her voice and all, but this was just plain weird, completely impossible! She fixed this so-called Doctor with a gaze, x-ray inspecting every inch of him.

"I know that look," the Doctor said with a smirk. "It's completely true. I can travel through time and space in this box." Her slack-jawed gaze, however, seemed to merely amuse him.

"It's true! This is my Tardis, my time-and-space ship!"

"And you are seven hundred-"

"And six years old, yes. Still young for a Time Lord." He interrupted.

"But that's impossible for a pony, only the Princesses can live that long, and you don't look like one to me!" Ditzy exclaimed.

The Doctor laughed, but his face grew stony an instant later, deep in thought. "Ah-ha! But I'm not a pony! Well, I wasn't before today. Well, I was this one time, chasing a flaming lizard, that was a messy day. Never mind. I wasn't a pony." He shot out quickly.

Ditzy fixed him with yet another odd look, which thankfully seemed to derail his growing rant.

"How about this?" He began again, "Why don't I just give you a demonstration, hm?" Confused as she was, Ditzy nodded eagerly. The Doctor laughed and began excitedly hopping around the column in the center of this Tardis, flipping switches and pulling knobs everywhere. The room itself gave a sudden shudder and she could hear a strange sort of whirring noise, keeping time with a pendulum-like thing bobbing up and down the column. The bobby thing mesmerized her, so much so that she jumped when she heard the Doctor's voice behind her, wings flaring up and beating him in the face.

Sneezing out a feather or two, the Doctor shook his head clear, and began again. "So, Derpy- not Ditzy- Derpy?- It was Ditzy, right? Oh what was your name again?" He asked her.

She couldn't help but let a small grin appear on her face. It was kind of cute how he messed up her name. "I was born Bright Eyes, but the ponies here have nicknamed me Ditzy Doo and Derpy Hooves."

The Doctor frowned. "That's not very polite, is it? Making fun of someon- somepony with a disorder?"

"They're not mean ponies. To be honest, I like Ditzy. But most call me Derpy." She shrugged. All three names suited her. In fact, she preferred Ditzy and Derpy to her birthname, she felt it was too girly for her. Ditzy sounds way cooler.

"Bright Eyes." The Doctor repeated. "What a beautiful name. Translates easily as well, mind if I call you that, or would you rather I just use it for diplomats and fancy schmancey stuff?"

Derpy aka Ditzy aka Bright Eyes shrugged. _Well, I guess it's kinda pretty_ she said to herself. "I prefer Ditzy, but you can call me whatever works best." She said.

"Now, where was I?" said Whooves. "Ah, yes! Bright Eyes, where in the whole of time and space would you like to go? Anywhere in the entire universe, minus where you've already been, I can't allow you to go back in time to fix a mistake, plus, who wants to be somewhere twice, boring!"

Ditzy put a hoof to her chin in thought. It was a short while before she replied. "Where are YOU from? I'd like to go there, Doctor."

The Doctor shook his head. "No-can-do. I can't take you to Gallifrey now."

"Gallopfrey?" Ditzy repeated. "Why not?"

"Well, why would you want to go to my home, it's boring. Nothing but red grass and gray skies." He explained, but he seemed to be avoiding something else. But at this point, unless he could show her a giant muffin in space, she had no clue where.

"I don't know" She said simply. The Doctor only grinned. "Neither do I, let's set it to random and see where it takes us, eh?" He spoke form the control panel at the column. He was throwing switches and pulling levers and pressing buttons all over the place, none of them seemed to have any reasonable pattern to them. Nonetheless, the phone box shook again, and this time, Ditzy felt she was moving forward. And spinning. She hated spinning. She could already feel herself beginning to grow green. To her further dismay, the box began to tilt as well!

Thankfully, it was not long before the most terrifying rollercoaster of her life halted suddenly. The only thing left spinning was Ditzy's head, and she could hear nothing above the ringing in her ears, the whirring had stopped, as had the pendulum-thing. Once she found herself to be able to stand normally, she turned to the Doctor.

"Where are we?"

The Doctor shrugged, and with a manic smile, replied, "Don't know, let's find out!" before racing towards the door. But Ditzy spoke up a second before he pushed it open.

"But what if there are bad things out there, like rhinos or elephants? What if we can't breathe?"

"This thing can hold off cybermen and Daleks. At the same time. So nothing is getting in or out of here besides me and you. And there's an air bubble around the Tardis. If we want to go further, I have space suits in the closet." He replied, pushing open the door. Derpy still wasn't convinced, but she cantered over to him and looked out over his shoulder, a gasp escaping her.


	4. The CyBreak In 1 of 3

The Doctor blinked. Bright Eyes was amazing. He'd never seen such speed and strength displayed at the same time.

"Ditzy, stay back, we don't know if this thing's dead or not," he said, trotting forward to examine the bulk. It had the shape of a regular pony (assuming that the Doctor was a regular pony), all except the head. Rather than a mane, atop the head was a metal rod, not unlike a bucket handle, connecting the ears. A cyberman- cyberpony, really.

"How do you exist even here? Do you survive just to 'Delete' anything different?" he questioned the metal hull. His eyes raked the body, taking in every scratch and dent in the metal, every pattern and hole in it. "Style never changes, does it?" He asked himself. Sighing slightly to himself, he sat on his hind legs and pulled the sonic screwdriver out of its place in his saddlebags with little grace. Adjusting the settings with his teeth, he pointed it directly at the chestplate of the cyberpony, a cybus industries logo, and fired. With its usual whirring noise, the screwdriver came to life and lit the plate with a blue glow. With a bit of clanking noises, he began to struggle to open the plate.

"Hooves. Very difficult." He mumbled, still trying to get the piece out. Eventually, he had managed to press on side of it in, exposing the rim just an inch or so. Using his teeth, he gripped the flat circle and gave a sharp tug. The plate gave way, but the doctor quickly spat out the piece, it was still burning hot and had a horrible chemical taste besides. Turning back to the cyberpony, he knelt down and examined the interior. It seemed to be the same as Cybus's 'upgrade' back in his own dimension, complete with a rather disgusting layer of artificial nerve tissue. Shifting the sticky and slimy matter, he soon found what he was searching for inside the pony's chest: an infostamp.

"Doctor, what's that? A robot?" Asked Ditzy from behind him. Turning around, he had to think for a moment before he replied.

"A cyberpony. And it's not a robot, not entirely. This thing used to be a living pony, until it was 'upgraded' to... that." He said, poring over the cylinder in his hooves. "They took his- or her- brain out and, took away its emotions ad put into the machine, bulletproof and nearly indestructible. A near-perfect soldier." He mused. A look of sickened horror crossed Ditzy's face. The Doctor shot her a knowing glance before going back to fiddling with the infostamp. Within a moment, the thing came to life, projecting images... right into the Doctor's eyes. With an "ack!" of surprise, he set the thing in the snow-covered ground and allowed it to project on the side of a rock face nearby.

Ditzy clearly understood none of it, but the Doctor felt he had struck gold. Flashes of a factory, maps, coordinates, even a few videos of Cybus himself- the Doctor had to snort at his appearance in pony form. "Come on, Ditzy," He began, "We're going to save a planet!" He began trotting off towards the coordinates in the cyberpony's infostamp. Ditzy didn't follow.

"Does that mean there are more of them? More cyberponies?" She asked, concern clear in her skewed eyes.

"Yes, and we're going to stop them, Allons-y!" He turned back around and galloped towards the coordinates.

"But you said they were ponies... like me." She said, still steeled in place. The Doctor sighed and turned around. Morality issues, wonderful.

"I know what you're thinking. I've felt that way too. But they're not people. They haven't been since they were turned into cyberponies. There's nothing we would be able to do for them anyways, they're only soldiers now." He explained. Ditzy took a few tentative steps forward before stopping again. The Doctor groaned inwardly.

"But you said they were indestructible. How will we stop them then?"

"I said nearly indestructible. And I'll stop them like I usually do; with a lot of running and explosions. Well, a lot of flying in your case." He said. Thankfully, this seemed to convince Ditzy and the two strode off at a powerful pace towards what the Doctor suspected to be primary Cyberpony plant.

The Doctor could sense they were growing closer to the plant. The sky was ever so slightly darker, and there was the subtlest hint of sulfury chemical smell in the air. Ditzy seemed to notice too, as she shot him a glance. Minutes later, they arrived at a tall chain-link fence, surrounding the compound at a distance. From his vantage point, the Doctor could see the Cyberponies as little more than marching specks in the distance, but the Cybus Industries logo was clear as day on some of the large towers inside the fence.

"Ah, here we are... now how to get inside.." He said, rubbing his furry chin with a hoof. Beside him, Ditzy snickered. Glancing at the gray mare, the Doctor was caught by surprise as she launched herself at him, wrapping all four legs around his chest and flanks. He realized what was happening a moment later, and cut off his screaming protest. Ditzy was lifting him, higher and higher, over the incredibly tall chain fence. Reaching the top, the Doctor noticed a watch light nearing them with great dismay.

The Doctor's hearts pounded in his chest as the searchlight drew nearer and nearer. Keeping his face clear, he prepared for the worst. Who knew if the cyberponies in this dimension had guns or not? But to his great shock, and admittedly terror, he suddenly felt air whooshing past his face. Opening his eyes, he'd seen that Ditzy had dropped him, and tightly shut them again. The ground was racing up to meet him as the light passed inches above him. But the second it passed, the pegasus was racing much faster than the ground and caught him moments before what would have been a very messy end to their short adventure. As the mare dropped him off and landed next to him, he quickly shut his jaw and cleared the terrified expression of his face.

"Ditzy, warn me next time you're going to do something like that!" He exclaimed. Ditzy replied merely by sticking her tongue out. The Doctor sighed, amused now rather than mortified. "Did they see you?" He asked her.

"Yup!" She said brightly.

"We have to get out of here then, they'll have us swarmed in seconds!" The Doctor said.

"I don't think so." Said Ditzy. "They didn't notice anything odd about me, not from their distance." Realization struck the doctor.

"Ditzy that's brilliant! That's- that's downright genius!" He exclaimed. She truly was much sharper than she looked. Using a gray coat as camouflage in an army of iron, incredible! The Doctor quickly turned and began trotting towards the main compound, but Ditzy blocked him before he had gone so much as five feet.

"From now on," She began, "I lead."


	5. The CyBreak in 2 of 3

Ditzy breathed deeply as she and the Doctor made their way throw the dark and frozen landscape. It truly was a wasteland here, especially with those Cyberponies. She could see all kinds of unsavory-looking liquid spills and piles of scrap metal. She shuddered to imagine what lie under the small hills covered in black tarp, she could've sworn she saw a hoof sticking out from under one. She shuddered.

"Doctor, we're getting close to the towers, what do we do when we're there?" She asked him, turning around to glance at him. To her annoyance, the Doctor was about a dozen yards back, observing a pile of discarded plating next to one of those horrific piles. Derpy cantered up to him quietly. He gave no response, glaring into the eyes of the cyberpony parts.

"Doctor," she cooed, as though she were a mare waking her foals for school. "Doctor, hello?" The Doctor turned to her with a slight smile, worrying her greatly. "What are you thinking, doctor?" She asked.

Still smiling slyly, he replied. "I know just how we're going to get in there." He said cryptically. Ditzy was, frankly, frustrated enough to stomp, but she pooled up the last of her patience and asked, "How, then?" through gritted teeth.

Taking the hint to fly straight, the doctor held up the circular Cybus Industries plate. "It's time for me to be upgraded." He said. Ditzy shot him a flat look.

"It took this long for you to think of that?" She asked him. She'd gotten the notion that the Doctor was much sharper. The Doctor's jaw gaped for a moment, before he locked eyes with her.

"Wait, I wasn't finished!" He protested. Ditzy nodded for him to continue. "Okay. So, we're going to have to make you look like a Cyberpony, won't we? These scraps might be just what we need. If I can manage to remove all of the hydraulics and servers and processors and such, I can make you the spitting image of a Cybus Cyberpony!" He had begun to talk very quickly, in a very excited fashion.

Several hours later, despite Ditzy's incredible boredom and slight fear of the shell, she stood fully framed in metal. The stuff was heavy, but it served as well-welcomed protection from the bitter cold outside. Thankfully, her smallish athletic build allowed her to fit into the suit, if not somewhat snugly. She observed herself in a block of ice.

"And nobody's supposed to notice this?" She asked. There was more than one red flag in her new getup that would alert even a dull troop. Her voice was a massive giveaway, they'd be caught instantly. There were several issues with the frame itself, probably why it was discarded. On the chest, the points of metal were uneven, only two of three meeting in the exact center of her chest. There were clearly visible snapped pieces in the metal, one of the hydraulic pipes on her leg was completely in two pieces. While a perhaps critical perspective, she did have a very clear point. It was convincing to a normal pony, but not to a Cyberpony. The Doctor frowned.

"Would you rather not wear it? I can guarantee that'll get you farther than those bubbles on your rump!" He said defensively. Ditzy would've laughed if they were back in Ponyville.

"Fine," She began. "I'll wear it. But when we're caught, you'd better think of a way out of it."

"Don't I always?" said the Doctor. Ditzy wondered just how many times he'd had to escape. He certainly didn't seem to be the most cautious of ponies, even in a different universe. Shaking her head, she started to move on, much more slowly than before. It was not long before she found the mask a massive hindrance, unable to keep the eye-holes properly aligned on her face. Eventually, however, the two of them had found their way to the entrance of the closest tower. Being the largest, they'd both figured that this was either the primary plant or at least where whoever in charge was. Looking around at the wall-mounted cameras, Ditzy burst through the doors, the Doctor following her with a timid act. Thankfully, the room seemed rather busy. Far too busy to notice a fake Cyberpony and undercover Timelord sneak in.

Not wanting to lose the imposter, the Doctor pressed a bit closer to the cold metal of his companion, and whispered into the rod coming out of where her ears should be. "Make your way to the elevator at the far side. Once we're in there, we can work our way to the top. The Cybercommander will be up there, most definitely. Well, probably. Well, there's a kinda-good chance that he will be up there. Just get over there!"

A single room seemed to stretch on for miles. The room had a system to it, Cyberponies were heading from one terminal to the next, occasionally four or five would form a group and exit, and a new group would enter. As random as it appeared, there seemed to be a method to this waiting room, a rhythm that the Doctor and Ditzy would quickly derail. Drawing as little attention as possible to themselves, they made it safely to the elevator door.

"Halt!" Ditzy's heart sank. She thought she heard the Doctor curse.

"Attempting telepathic communications... telepathic communications failed" Came the metallic droning voice of a Cyberpony behind them. Turning around, Ditzy took in the strange thing. It seemed much surer than the one they'd attacked miles away. When it spoke, this pony did not use any visible mouth, but a sort of equalizer where it's mouth should be. Truthfully, this one was very impressive, even intimidating.

"Non-upgraded ponies are to be taking to building C, subdirectory 4." It droned on. The Doctor was apparently holding back a laugh. Something the robot had said was very funny, apparently. "Reveal identification number."

"Identification number?" asked Ditzy, trying to keep her voice as drawling and mechanic as possible.

"Reveal identification number or you will be subject to deletion." Came the curt reply.

"Identification One Three Nine, Two Two Seven." Said Ditzy confidently.

"Reveal identification number or you will be subject to deletion." The Cyberpony replied. Ditzy knew they were trapped. But she was quickly distracted by the Doctor dashing forward and spitting on the thing. "Let me go!" he screamed.

Ditzy could have sworn the robot growled before his response. "Report to High Command." The thing grabbed her by the neck, turned and began walking out the door.

The Cyberpony had a very sturdy grip. It was strong enough to hold her fast, but just weak enough to allow her breath. Her eyes darted around in horror as they entered the frozen outdoors, and headed towards a different tower. Building C, Ditzy presumed. The robot led them forcefully through another, much less crowded building. There were no terminals in this building, and it was much colder than the other. The floor was a cold steel, reflective and loud. The room only had two doors. On one side, a clear elevator. On the other, massive heavy steel doors. Bolted shut, they would keep out most anything. But they did nothing to block the faint sound of faraway screams. That was probably where the ponies were turned into cyberponies.

Thankfully, the Cyberpony led Ditzy and the Doctor towards the elevator rather than the steel doors, though she was doubtful that it would be her last time seeing them. Pressing the uppermost button, a Cybus logo rather than a number, the elevator lurched upwards. It gained momentum quickly, and Ditzy felt the gravity pressing her towards the ground. It was somewhat painful, being pressed up against the metal hull, and she could see the Doctor fighting to stand. In a matter of seconds the ride was over. Coming to the very top, the elevator came to a smooth halt, and the doors slid open. The doors revealed a long hallway, with less than five doors. It was clearly executive. The floor had a rug, and the walls had mounted chandeliers. The overall was really rather eerie, a cold metal building, decorated slightly. Leading them to final door in the hallway, the Cyberpony pushed the door open and trotted inside, still gripping the two by their necks.

At a glance, the room before them was empty. It was a basic office, with chairs, a desk with a phone and computer, and all the trimmings. But one could hear something above the building's faint humming. It was a steady rhythm... it was breathing. But it was strained, weak breathing. Something was dying, or else very close to it. The chair swiveled around and Ditzy gasped in horror. The Doctor looked away with a disgusted look. It was a Cyberpony. But this one was different. This one was larger than the others. This one was attached to some sort of machine, the source of the breathing noise. It was attached with all sorts of cables and tubes to its seat, but it appeared as though it could become mobile at any time.

The Doctor uttered a single word. "Lumic."


	6. The CyBreak in 3 of 3

"I have done what I have for the sake of progress!" The mechanical voice had been going on for several minutes now, and it finally seemed as though his monologue was drawing to a close. The Doctor, giving a silent sigh of relief, took the moment to take in Lumic Point-Two, as he called himself. At a glance, he appeared to be identical to any other Cyberman- or Cyberpony would be the proper term. He had the same complex system of hydraulic tubes and wires connecting his hooves to his tighs and such. He had the same sharp markings on his chest as the pony next to him- almost identical to those of the human version in his own universe. The Cybus logo, however, was located on his rump rather than his chest, whether out of convenience or a need to mimic the normal ponies, the Doctor couldn't tell. Following the trend, from the neck down, the body did appear to be little more than a painfully elaborate Halloween costume. The head, on the other hoof, was a sheer blow to both humanity and morality itself. It was an almost perfectly circular dome, Lumic had next to no muzzle. There was only a very slight bump in the cylinder where his muzzle should have been. He had no mouth, as well. This had been replaced by a small rectangular LED panel that lit up as he spoke, almost serving as a modern stereo system's equalizer. The cat-like ears were also gone, in their place stood a long rod, almost like a bucket handle, connecting both ears overhead. The eyes were mere circular indents in the cylinder, with what looked like a teardrop symbol in their corner. The Doctor couldn't help but silently remark at how fitting this was.

"So tell me, Lumic, how long can one live in this suit of yours?" he asked, putting excessive emphasis on 'live'.

"This new body, this steel skin, can extend life indefinitely, limited only by the metal itself, granted it is connected to the power source." Came Lumic's very dull response. The Doctor squinted slightly before asking again.

"And how long away from the power source?"

"Without a power source, one of these Cyberponies can operate for up to fifty years." Lumic said. The Doctor silently cursed.

"I was hoping for a touch less. So tell me, my boy, why have you become a cyberpony, then?" He inquired. All he had to do was keep Lumic talking and eventually something would slip.

"I have done what I have for the sake of progress!" repeated Lumic.

"Oh come on, don't lie to me. We all knew you were dying. You did this to save your own ski- coat. But why did you have to change everything around you, were you that lonely, that afraid?" The Doctor prayed he wasn't going too far.

"I do believe I was questioning you. Not the reverse. Unit alpha seventy-three, you may delete these intruders now." The cyberpony took a step towards the Doctor, one of its hooves outstretched. He knew all too well what that meant, and began speaking as he thought.

"Wait, wait! Your voice, it's different. Yours isn't the same as that one's, but his is the same as all the others, why's that? Why do you have feelings?" He called out, backing away from the metal beast.

"I needed to have emotions. I am their leader, the Cyber-leader." Lumic began. "What would an army of perfect soldiers be without a proper leader, mister..." His voice trailed off as he queried the Doctor's name.

"Just the Doctor. And why have you created the perfect soldier, as you call it? What is their purpose? To act upon whatever whim you may have?" The Doctor reached into his saddlebag with his mouth and withdrew the screwdriver. The cyberpony drew closer.

"I do not have to answer to you, Doctor." said Lumic. "You are a dead man!" Ditzy, who up until the point had been standing emotionless, silently following the conversation, turned and kicked the advancing cyberpony backwards. It lay there, temporarily stunned. As fast as she could in the sharp metal suit, she made her way to the Doctor.

"What are you doing with that, Doctor?" She asked, a trace of fear entering her voice. The Doctor had his head bent down, and was trying to adjust his screwdriver with his mouth- no easy task without hands.

"I learned a trick a while ago- ack, this tastes horrible! And if it works, we'll be able to..." He clamped his teeth on the button as a high pitched whirring noise came out. Ditzy gave almost no reaction, while both Lumic and the cyberpony, beginning to return from its daze, clutched their ear-rods, screaming.

"RUN!" The Doctor concluded his sentence. Both he and Ditzy dashed for the door, the latter beginning to unfurl her wings. The Doctor and his assistant ran, shedding metal parts as quickly as possible. Passing building after building in the snow, they finally found refuge in a waste drainage pipe near the edge of Lumic's compound.

"Doctor... what did you do... back there?" asked a very breathless pegasus, walking up closer to him. The Doctor turned to her with a slight smile.

"An old trick I learned. The Sonic Screwdriver is more useful than you think, if I have it at a high enough setting, the soundwaves interfere with the processors inside the cyberponies without hurting us. Simple." Ditzy narrowed her eyes.

"But you said those things had the brains of normal ponies. Why would it hurt them if they do?" She inquired.

"Very sharp mind, Ditzy. Well, you see those things coming out of where the ears should be?" The gray mare nodded. "Well those things basically control the mind. I was messing with them, not their brains. Come to think of it, they were probably fighting themselves in the seconds they weren't being forced by the earpods." The Doctor had slowly made his way to the edge of the tube, preparing to step out, but Ditzy laid a hoof on his shoulder.

"Where are you going?" She asked him sharply.

"The furthest fence is about half a mile that way. Those Cyberponies are looking for us inside the bigger buildings, they'd expect an escapee to be close by. But while they're looking, we take a jump out of this pipe, a dash to the fence, you fly us over and we're back to the Tardis in minutes!" He said proudly. Ditzy was visibly unmoved.

"Wait, so you're not gonna stop him? You're just letting him destroy all those ponies?" She asked, backing away from him.

"Hey, you've never faced Cybermen before. I have. You can't fight these things directly. If we don't run, we'll either end up as one of them- well I won't, but they'll take you. Or we end up dead. Your choice." The Doctor fixed her with a cold glare. And for the first time since meeting him, Ditzy thought the Doctor looked old. Not warm and energetic, he just looked old and tired. Like he had seen too much sadness in his life.

"Well why can't we? Can't we at least knock out their power source? And what's a Cyberman?" She asked him, voice starting to rise louder.

"What are you, blind? You've seen dozens of them, one tried to kill you, you were disguised as one for almost four hours!" He yelled out, but as quickly as he said it, he noticed his mistake. He looked into her eyes and saw he had hurt her. The one normal pony left in this wasteland and he'd hurt her. Not to mention he'd just let slip that he wasn't exactly equine in nature either. Once again, the pegasus backed away from him, looking at him with disgust now.

"Come on, you know I didn't mean that like that. Bright Eyes, don't do this, we can't argue now, if we do we'll be caught and killed before you can say 'banana'!" He said, his tone now quieter than ever. Ditzy shook her head.

"No. You go back to your box and I'll be here destroying these monsters!" She said, making a dash for the exit. The Doctor trotted after, but she was too fast with those wings.

"Bright eyes! Come back!" He called, beginning to gallop after her.


	7. The CyBreak in 4 of 3

"Ditzy, don't you ever run off like that again!" The Doctor scolded. The pegasus met his stern gaze with that of an angry child.

"What are you, my mom? I can take care of myself, thank you very much!" She spoke with a hint of sadness in her voice.

"No, not here. I'm not sure I can take care of myself here. The Cyberponies are extremely dangerous, especially in close proximity. The one you hit outside this base was a defective one, it was dying. You can't kill a Cyberpony at full power. You could maybe stun it, but never kill it." Ditzy's eyes widened as he spoke.

"Okay, then, what's your plan?" She asked, slowing down to match his pace.

"I told you my plan. We leave. There's nothing else to do. They're stronger, better organized than the last time I met them, and now there's no rebellion force as well. There's no big red button, no off switch on these things, they kill on command, and will not stop under any circumstances."

"You said they couldn't be stopped at full power. What if we-" Ditzy was quickly cut off by the Doctor's curt response.

"It might work, yes. The Cyberponies I'm used to power themselves with antimatter, very unstable but very powerful. If we can throw the right combination of matter into it, it can explode with the force of several atomic bombs. If Cybus installed failsafes, the explosion would be delayed just long enough for us to get out. If not..." His voice trailed off.

Ditzy started trotting ahead of him, full trot. "Well let's hope he has them installed then!" She called over her shoulder. The Doctor had to gallop to keep up with her. They eventually stopped by the intersection of four buildings, the same place they had gotten caught the last time. Picking out the tallest, no mean task with such standardized buildings, the Doctor whispered into Ditzy's ear.

"All right. That's the building we need. But we need to be careful, we can't have any cyberponies following us." He said. She shot him a confused glance.

"If they detect a threat, the send out a homing signal to the nearest cyberponies, and in ten seconds flat you're surrounded. What's funny about that?" He asked.

"Oh, nothing. It's an inside joke. Let's get in there." She said, lowing onto her haunches and dashing across the open snow. The Doctor prayed they hadn't been spotted as he did the same. Once inside the building, the two ponies ducked behind some metal tubing to regroup.

"Good, we've made it this far. The Cyberponies should be on the patrol for me, so there should only be one or two manning this station. Luckily, the infostamps these ponies have are made of Cybidium, guess who named that one. It's really just an isotope, but it's incredibly reactive, and very, very unstable when mixed with the right ingredients. If we can shove one of them into the reactor, then we've got a hyper bomb waiting to happen. Ready?" Ditzy had left before he had even finished his explanation. The Doctor worried for a moment when he couldn't find her.

He let out a sigh of relief as he saw her, blending in perfectly, in front of a tube several yards away. Trotting over to her, he saw what had captured her gaze- The antimatter generator. It was a beautiful sight, for any time period. Looking like something out of a Science Fiction movie, it had large gray metal spires, with jolts of blue electricity flowing up them in a circle. There was a massive transmitter on top, the source of the cyberponies' power. There were approximately a dozen floors in this open factory, each with a panel for commands. Squinting down, the Doctor could see two figures three floors below them. He groaned inwardly as he recognized Cybus.

"Doctor, what do we do now?" Asked Ditzy from behind. The Doctor tore his eyes away from reading the cyberponies' lips to reply.

"We wait. Soon Cybus will leave and we can throw that one into the generator and start the bomb. It can't be long." He said. But even as he spoke, the Cyberpony saluted Cybus and trotted towards the lift. He got to the floor level and exited the building, thankfully not noticing the two hiding ponies. Ditzy began making her way to the lift, but was stopped by the Doctor's hoof.

"Wait. Cybus is here. We've got to be extra careful now." He said, jumping in with her just as the doors slid shut. They rode down in silence, the lift automatically opening at every floor. They couldn't speed it up without risking somepony knowing.

Finally, the doors slid open on the third floor below ground, right where Cybus stood monitoring the generator. The Doctor stared at Ditzy.

"Can you do that kicking thing you did with the other cyberpony to him? A good shot should knock him over the rail." Ditzy nodded, but didn't go before asking a question of her own.

"Why are there no safety rails here? I thought these guys were supposed to be secure..." The Doctor allowed a smile to cross his face.

"Sharp eye, Ditzy. The Cyberponies don't trip. They have to be forced. And if you don't trip, and you know nopony is going to push you, why waste time setting up an extra precaution?" Ditzy nodded, understanding. Quiet as a mouse (Astounding for somepony with hooves), she crawled out into the open and stood on a pipe. Spreading her wings, she jumped and immediately forced her hooves first. She connected with the metal beast with a loud clang, and sent it falling backwards.

Backwards, that is, for about one second. At the impossible last moment, Cybus magnetized his feet to the floor and held fast. The Doctor's heart sank. As the hulk of a Cyberpony turned in a circle to try and catch the flying pegasus, he swore in terms the Doctor had never heard before. Then an idea hit him.

"Ditzy!" He called out. He received a grunt in reply. "Heads up!" He called, running towards Cybus. As the pony prepared himself for impact, Ditzy clutched his shoulders and pulled with all her might. As the Doctor collided, he was able to send the machine toppling down, over the edge. With Ditzy on its back. He ran to the edge as the room around him turned red. He could see no Ditzy. He almost let a tear down as he felt a slight breeze.

"What're you crying over? I thought he was a bad pony!" Came Ditzy's voice behind him as she landed swiftly. The Doctor quickly drew her up in a somewhat awkward pony-hug.

"Ditzy! This place is about to be swarmed with Cyberponies, care for a suicidal run to the TARDIS?" He asked her. She nodded.

"Explosion imminent. Explosion imminent." Came a mechanical voice above them as they ran. "Explosion in two hundred seconds" It called. They ran, but the run was much too long, and the time far too short. Not to mention there were Cyberponies lining up to follow them.

"Doctor, hold on!" cried Ditzy. Once again, he failed to protest before he was lifted up and shuttled away by the incredibly strong pegasus. Thankfully, the Cyberponies were unable to keep up with the pace, and soon fell back into the white haze. It was no more than a minute when Ditzy dropped them off at the TARDIS. The two ran inside, the Doctor racing for the controls, his awkward hooves a blur on the instrument panel.

"Doctor, back there, you said Cybermen. Not Cyberponies. What did you mean?" She asked as he tinkered with the controls.

"Ditzy, this is really not the time, I can tell you later." He said, finally forcing a lever forward. The box made that weird noise again and Ditzy felt slightly as though they had moved. Running to the doors, she pushed them open to see familiar old Ponyville staring her back in the face. The Doctor followed her out.

"So, Bright Eyes," he said formally, "What did you think of my Time and Space Machine?"

Her eyes lit up. "It was amazing! Do you do this all the time?" She asked.

"Fairly often, but not always with Cyberponies, and there usually aren't that many explosions. Well, there kind of are... well, there are usually a lot of them." He trailed off for a moment.

"Well you've shown me space, but not time, Doctor." Ditzy began. "You might as well have taken me to the Equestrian Mountain range up north." She pointed in the direction of the range and let out a gasp. Rising from the mountains was a massive column of black smoke, the kind following an explosion. There was a distant rumble as an avalanche began tumbling down the mountainside. Ditzy looked on with horror, as the Doctor seemed indifferent. She turned to him.

"I've sentenced dozens of ponies to their deaths." She said quietly. The Doctor gave her a stern glare.

"Ditzy, I've told you. They weren't alive. You can't kill ponies that are already dead." He said. Ditzy glared back at him.

"Not that you idiot! There was a village at the foot of that mountain, they can't escape an avalanche like that! I just killed them all. Every last one that gets buried by snow died by my hooves!"

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Came the Doctor's tagline. "But there's nothing we can do about that now. Come with me, Ditzy. Travel the stars, this was nothing, we can move on." He tried to persuade her. He laid a hoof on her shoulder, which she quickly shrugged off.

"No!" She cried out, "never! I'd never travel with such a- such a monster!" Before the Doctor could reply, she ran towards the mountain and took off, leaving wet droplets behind.


End file.
